Energy Minister attended the Russian Energy Week International Forum

Parviz Shahbazov, the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan attended the Russian Energy Week International Forum held in Moscow. At the forum, which was attended by government officials of a number of countries, heads of international organizations and oil and gas companies, prestigious research and media representatives, the use of the traditional and renewable energy sources, new directions of international cooperation in the field of energy, carbon neutrality, energy transition and many other urgent issues were discussed.

Minister took part in the discussions on the session of "The future of traditional energy: is the world ready to give up hydrocarbons?". During the session, the sides exchanged views on the position of traditional energy carriers in the global energy balance, the adaptation of the existing energy infrastructure to new energy sources, the adequacy of the potential of the current oil and gas projects to meet energy demand, the possibility of energy transition with the use of energy carriers of hydrocarbon origin and other issues.

Parviz Shahbazov, in response to the question of the regulatory role of gas in the energy transition, said that reducing investments in the gas industry, which is currently considered to be the cleanest type of hydrocarbon fuel, can lead to an increase in the use of energy carriers, which in the future will have a more negative impact on the environment. In this regard, the importance of formalizing the decisions on energy transition in the current situation on the basis of a comprehensive approach to issues of ecological security and energy security was underlined.

Drawing attention to the strategic decisions and work carried out under the leadership of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Mr. Ilham Aliyev in the direction of expanding the use of “green energy” in the country, the Minister gave information about the current potential for the development of especially offshore wind energy. He noted that the technical potential, initially estimated at 157 MW, continues to be directed to the production of “green hydrogen” in the future.

The Minister of Energy held a number of bilateral meetings within the Russian Energy Week International Forum. The current state of cooperation in the fields of oil and gas, electro-energetics, implementation of joint projects and a number of other issues were discussed at the meetings held separately with Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Aleksander Novak and Energy Minister Nikolai Shulginov. It was stressed that the energy cooperation between the two countries is developing in all directions. They talked about the existing policies in the field of renewable energy and implemented strategic projects. The importance of diversification of energy sources in order to ensure energy security was underlined, and it was noted that real steps were taken in both countries in this direction.

At the meeting held with the Minister of Energy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abdulaziz bin Salman Al Saud, the sides exchanged views on the prospects of the OPEC plus agreement and the practical results of the crucial role of consensus among the OPEC plus countries in balancing the market were noted. Parviz Shahbazov invited his counterpart to Azerbaijan to participate in the groundbreaking ceremony of the 240 MW wind power plant to be held in the near future.

At the meeting with Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó, the issues arising from the cooperation in the oil, gas and green energy fields were discussed, and the sides expressed their support for the development of existing relations between the energy regulatory bodies of the two countries.